It is well-known to use a rolling mill, comprising a series of cooperating metal rolls having an increasingly narrower nip, to cold work or hot work a metal billet. Due to friction and heat, these rolls deteriorate rapidly, causing imperfections in the surface of the rolled material. Generally, the rolling mill must be shut down at frequent intervals in order to remove the rolls for refurbishment or to re-dress the remove the rolls for refurbishment or to re-dress the surfaces of the rolls in-situ. Frequent roll replacements and in-situ roll treatments cause the cost for rolling metal bar or plate stock to escalate sharply.
It would be desirable to devise a process for treating the surface of a metal roll to increase its working life; thus reducing the number of roll changes and roll treatments required in order to roll a quantity of metal stock.